Meet The Ex-Morgan Stanley Exec Who Left Retirement To Start A Daily Deal Site Just For Women

Women love hearing about a fabulous deal or service from a friend, and that's just what the daily deal site CoupTessa aims to be, according to David Horn, a former head of global private client marketing at Morgan Stanley and the company's founder.

"We like to think of our deals as daily indulgences for women," Horn said. "Women are coded to try to do it all. There's a lot going on for them. Women deserve even a momentary reprieve from all of life's stresses. We try to provide that."

The idea for CoupTessa came to fruition in 2010, when Horn was relaxing in the Caribbean, enjoying retirement. At the time, he believed his big-business days were behind him.

But as he heard his friends brag about their children working for a start-up called "Groupon," his brain started turning.

"I thought Groupon had an interesting model, but it could be done better," Horn said. "I thought there could be a clever marketing spin around women...they are so different from men, and love a service referral from a good friend. We thought if we harnessed that it could be very powerful."

At that point, Horn and Francisco Gonzalez, a neighbor, came together to start CoupTessa. Gonzalez had just read a book, The Female Brain by Louann Brizendine, and shared it with Horn. Horn was captivated by it.

After further market research, the duo launched their business in Miami, starting with fitness, beauty, and restaurant deals and services from 60 other categories in the Miami area, geared toward women. The company has since expanded to Fort Lauderdale, Atlanta, Boston and Philadelphia, and has around 200,000 subscribers.

The difference between Groupon and CoupTessa is the boutique feeling, said Horn. CoupTessa representatives go in-person to retailers it partners with. They make sure the store can accommodate the influx of customers, that it is clean, and that it fits the standards of the 120-page manual CoupTessa uses to ensure quality.

"Groupon is like a shopping mall," Horn said. "There's nothing wrong with a shopping mall, but there's value in a boutique experience as well."

The main goal is to create returning customers for the stores that participate in CoupTessa.

"Women want to build relationships," Horn said. "They want to ask the person doing their nails 'How was your vacation?' That makes a more enjoyable experience for them."

The company is hesitant to expand to New York because, Horn said, because the city has such a huge network of neighborhoods. There are currently 40 people who work for CoupTessa, and Horn said he would have to double that number to 80 if they expanded to New York at this point.

"Women make 90% of the consumer purchasing decisions. They control the food, the travel, the clothes," Horn said. "And a lot of the other sites there have offered services and deals on a very superficial level. They haven't dug deeper to see what women really want, and we have done that research, and now have the costumer feedback to provide women with deals they really want."